Mumbai: For the first time in its 41-year history, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) will open its doors to four international folk dance groups to take part in the four-day Mood Indigo Worldfest-2011, opening here on Sunday.

Teams from Indonesia, Turkey, Spain and Poland will participate in this year's Mood Indigo Worldfest, making IIT-B the only Indian campus to invite and host foreign groups to what is now seen as a world-class festival.

Mood Indigo is the institute's annual cultural festival, attracting over 75,000 students from approximately 500 colleges all over the country. It is touted as Asia's largest college festival.

It also attracts the biggest names in the world of arts, culture, dance, singing and music who perform at the various events slated for four action-packed days at its sprawling lake-side campus in Powai, Central Mumbai Suburbs.

Poland's student group Katowice with 12 boys and 13 girls from the University of Silesia arrived here on Tuesday. It has already performed in over 20 countries worldwide and presents songs and dances of Upper Silesia sporting traditional folk costumes.

The remaining groups - Indonesia's IOV Indonesia Youth Section (two boys, 15 girls), Turkey's Kleurrijke Dans (nine boys, seven girls) and Spain's Ara De Madrid (six boys, 22 girls), will arrive from Wednesday onwards.

Describing the motto of the festival as 'Today's Friendship for Tomorrow's Peace', the festival's artistic director Shubhra Bhardwaj said the Worldfest will bring the world to Mood Indigo in an attempt to present the festival on an international platform.

"The idea of an international cultural festival is to create young minds that transcend borders and prejudices. Mood Indigo Worldfest 2011 will become a meeting point where hundreds of young talented individuals from many countries converge," she added.

The main objectives are to intermingle, have fun and exhibit each country's unique culture and lifestyle, and the participants will become ambassadors of peace. IANS